Fixed book price

THE FIXED BOOK PRICE BILL OF 2015Fixed book prices are applied in some European countries. A fi xed book price is the price, set by the publisher, at which the book is to be sold. This solution is to limit price competition among the sellers in order to protect traditional bookshops and promote non-price competition on the book market. In Poland the book market is not regulated in such a way. In 2015 a fi xed book price bill, prepared by the Polish Chamber of Books, was submitted to the parliament. However, the bill was not adopted, because the parliament’s term ended. The author of the article examines the work of publishers and booksellers on the bill on the basis of the available reports by professionals and journalists, the contents of the bill as well as the course of the legislative process, drawing on records of meetings of parliamentary committees. In addition, the author presents opinions about the bill expressed from early 2013 until late 2015. The opinions come from inter...

The study highlights the potential negative impacts of Brazil's fixed book price law, set to be implemented in 2025, on an already struggling book market. Most Brazilians regard reading as a secondary activity and purchase books infrequently, with discounts and marketing triggers like cashback and coupons serving as key incentives. With the law limiting these promotional tactics, there's concern that consumers will shift even more toward free cultural content on streaming and social media platforms. Brazil lacks efficient logistics for book distribution, and its complex commercial and tax systems further complicate the industry. Moreover, there are no robust public policies to support independent bookstores or small publishers, often run by small teams. Without initiatives to boost reading habits and book consumption, limiting discounts may fail to protect independent bookstores and small-to-medium publishers, potentially worsening existing market challenges. Additionally, the dominance of Amazon, the decline of the consignment model, and emerging AI threats in publishing may further distance the industry from the law's intended goals of preserving publishers, independent bookstores, and Brazil’s bibliodiversity.

Over the past fifty years antitrust theorists and economists have advanced several procompetitive explanations for minimum resale price maintenance, or RPM. In addition, scholars have argued that non-price vertical restraints (such as territorial exclusivity) and RPM have similar effects on price and quantity and should therefore be treated similarly by law. Nearly thirty years ago, the US Supreme Court ruled that non-price vertical restraints should be subject to a rule of reason, acknowledging their pro-competitive potential. Since no explanation has been forwarded to justify treating RPM differently, there seems to be good reason to subject RPM to a rule of reason as well. And, indeed, a divided US Supreme Court has recently decided to overrule the longstanding per se illegality rule that was, for nearly a century, applicable to RPM. In the following I argue that the approach still upheld by policy makers in most jurisdictions, namely the per se prohibition on RPM, is economically justified. I show that all pro-competitive explanations for RPM suffer from a common flaw, the possibility of non-price competition, which challenges RPM's ability to achieve any of the pro-competitive goals attributed to it. I then show that non-price vertical restraints are capable of achieving the pro-competitive goals that RPM is incapable of achieving. This justifies both applying a per se illegality rule to RPM and applying a different rule, namely a rule of reason, to other vertical restraints.

The paper focuses on the application, monitoring, and benefits of the competition law. The topic that covers in the entire paper is mainly focuses on the importance of the competition law that particularly applies in the consumer protection that has been established in order to promote the balance and fairness in the economic consumption and spending. This paper will present the understanding on the competition law and policy that aims to protect the consumers and provide the scenarios in competition laws that is mostly based on UK, USA, and Australia. It is important for the study to discuss such matter in order to recognize the effectiveness of the policy and its applicability in trading and commerce. In addition, the aims to determine the impact of the competition law in developing countries.

The Brazilian economy grows day by day, but when and how the country will reach its potential as a reader market, is still is a challenge for companies established in the country and for those which wish to plant its flags there. Looking at its recent past and the current transformations, it is possible to imagine that this time for success is pretty closer. Keywords Brazilian book market Á Brazilian publishers Á Cultura Á Brasil Á Editora Á E-publishing Á Digital books Á E-readers Á Livraria Á Livro digital Á Saraiva Á Submarino G. Ramos (&)

Performance of the benchmark valuation methods relies on the de®nition of comparable ®rms. In this paper, comparable ®rms are selected based on industry membership, size and return on equity as well as combinations of industry membership with size and with return on equity. We ®nd that within the P/E and P/B benchmark valuation methods, the best de®nition of the comparable ®rms are based on industry membership combined with return on equity. However, only the industry membership is necessary to de®ne the comparable ®rms for the combined P/E-P/B method. In sum, the results suggest that, when ®rm's value is unknown, the combined P/E-P/B valuation approach selecting comparable ®rms based on industry membership performs the best among all the approaches evaluated in this paper. We also ®nd that the P/E benchmark valuation method performs better than the P/B benchmark valuation method and the combined method outperforms either the P/E or the P/B method. These results imply that earnings are more important than book value as a single-number ®rm valuator over our sample years (from 1973 to 1992) and that both earnings and book values are value relevant, one does not substitute perfectly for the other.

Performance of the benchmark valuation methods relies on the de®nition of comparable ®rms. In this paper, comparable ®rms are selected based on industry membership, size and return on equity as well as combinations of industry membership with size and with return on equity. We ®nd that within the P/E and P/B benchmark valuation methods, the best de®nition of the comparable ®rms are based on industry membership combined with return on equity. However, only the industry membership is necessary to de®ne the comparable ®rms for the combined P/E-P/B method. In sum, the results suggest that, when ®rm's value is unknown, the combined P/E-P/B valuation approach selecting comparable ®rms based on industry membership performs the best among all the approaches evaluated in this paper. We also ®nd that the P/E benchmark valuation method performs better than the P/B benchmark valuation method and the combined method outperforms either the P/E or the P/B method. These results imply that earnings are more important than book value as a single-number ®rm valuator over our sample years (from 1973 to 1992) and that both earnings and book values are value relevant, one does not substitute perfectly for the other.

Fixed pricing for healthcare services is emerging as an attractive business model for private healthcare service providers. Under fixed pricing (or flat rate) contract, the patient is charged a fixed price for the healthcare services irrespective of the actual cost incurred by the hospital. Such contracts increase the risks for the healthcare service provider, thus making pricing decision crucial. In this paper, we study uncertainty and analyse the flat rate pricing contract for a profit maximising hospital to find the optimal price of treatment and examined value-at-risk (VaR) associated with such contracts for a risk minimising hospital. Bounds on price were derived to support healthcare providers with price negotiations. We extended the basic models by adding constraints to obtain risk-adjusted optimal price. We proved analytically that the optimal price lies between profit maximisation value and risk minimisation value of price, which we refer to as the efficient pricing interval. Our models and insights provide practical support to private healthcare service providers for optimal pricing and keep them informed about their risk position.

The Brazilian economy grows day by day, but when and how the country will reach its potential as a reader market, is still is a challenge for companies established in the country and for those which wish to plant its flags there. Looking at its recent past and the current transformations, it is possible to imagine that this time for success is pretty closer. Keywords Brazilian book market Á Brazilian publishers Á Cultura Á Brasil Á Editora Á E-publishing Á Digital books Á E-readers Á Livraria Á Livro digital Á Saraiva Á Submarino G. Ramos (&)

European countries have similar cultural goals for books. The most common are the promotion of reading and the production of (literary) books (of a diverse nature). The extent to which the free market can achieve the cultural goals is uncertain and differs across countries. In cases where the free market does not achieve the goals or politicians do not want to accept uncertainty, a policy instrument is needed. Commonly used instruments in Europe include the fixed book price, subsidies, libraries, and lower VAT. We demonstrate that differences among European countries matter and that harmonisation of European book policies is not a good idea.

A fixed book price is the price, set by the publisher, at which the book is to be sold. This solution is enacted to limit price competition among the sellers in order to protect traditional bookshops and promote non-price competition on the book market. Fixed book prices are applied in some European countries, however in Poland the book market is not regulated in such a way. In 2015 a fixed book price bill, prepared by the Polish Chamber of Books (Polska Izba Książki), was submitted to the parliament. The author of the article examines the work of publishers and booksellers on the bill on the basis of the available reports by professionals and journalists, the contents of the bill as well as the course of the legislative process, drawing on records of meetings of parliamentary committees. In addition, the author presents opinions about the bill expressed from early 2013 until late 2015. The opinions come from interviews and articles in trade and general press.

Despite the considerable volume of relevant research, the debate concerning the application of fixed book prices (FBP) remains open. The issue has lately attracted major attention in Greece since the FBP law that had been regulating the Greek book market for more than sixteen years, was significantly revised in 2014, establishing a much laxer pricing scheme. This paper adds to the debate on fixed book pricing by investigating important aspects of the issue based on the Greek experience. Utilizing available data on prices, consumer expenditure, new publications and international book trade, it explores the potential effects of the partial removal of price restrictions on the Greek book market. Quantitative analysis results indicate that policies promoting book market liberalization seem, in general, to operate in favour of the consumers (readers).

Performance of the benchmark valuation methods relies on the de®nition of comparable ®rms. In this paper, comparable ®rms are selected based on industry membership, size and return on equity as well as combinations of industry membership with size and with return on equity. We ®nd that within the P/E and P/B benchmark valuation methods, the best de®nition of the comparable ®rms are based on industry membership combined with return on equity. However, only the industry membership is necessary to de®ne the comparable ®rms for the combined P/E-P/B method. In sum, the results suggest that, when ®rm's value is unknown, the combined P/E-P/B valuation approach selecting comparable ®rms based on industry membership performs the best among all the approaches evaluated in this paper. We also ®nd that the P/E benchmark valuation method performs better than the P/B benchmark valuation method and the combined method outperforms either the P/E or the P/B method. These results imply that earnings are more important than book value as a single-number ®rm valuator over our sample years (from 1973 to 1992) and that both earnings and book values are value relevant, one does not substitute perfectly for the other.

Brazil is currently discussing the introduction of a nationwide Fixed Book Price (" FBP ") policy, thus providing context for a discussion of its welfare benefits. There is a rift between the reasons for implementing FBP regimes, and those used to scru‐ tinize them. In order for the debate surrounding the pros and cons of implementing FBP regimes to become more productive, one must investigate the links between the reasons for designing and enforcing such policies, on one side, and standard antitrust analysis, on the other. There are many interesting arguments at the table that both corroborate and compromise the case for an FPB policy. However, throughout history, these policies have experimented cognizable trends. The objec‐ tive FBP regimes pursue and their design have changed subtly, yet relevantly throughout history. In our view, the current academic and public policy debate sur‐ rounding FBP regimes, in both countries considering adopting or revoking them, would benefit from an enhanced awareness of these trends and their policy implica‐ tions. Ultimately, so would the antitrust analysis of these policies. We argue that a better grasp of these trends could potentially result in a more sober examination of the welfare risks associated with FBP policies.